History of Scania
Encyclopedia
The history of the province of Scania
has, for many centuries, been marked by the struggle between the two Scandinavia
n kingdom
s of Denmark
and Sweden
.
It was previously thought that society, like in the rest of Scandinavia, was made up of farmers and thrall
s, the former all being free and equal having their say at the thing
s in the affairs of the society. Archeological findings on Jutland
, the Danish islands and on the Scanian plains have modified this picture. It has now become clear, that the distribution of wealth, at least from the early Migration Period
, was very uneven. The plains were to a large extent divided up between large farms which were far bigger than smallholding
s, and were often grouped in villages. Subsequently, only a small faction of the population can be presumed to have enjoyed full civic rights. It seems now more likely that this society ought to be perceived as a system of tribe
s, each led by magnates or chieftains, in Danish
often called gode, whose authority depended on the size and wealth of the tribe. These tribes would have had their own lid, their own troop of warriors, under the command of the magnates, as was the case long after the Viking Age.
It now seems likely, that a period of domestic colonisation within Scania, that was earlier believed to have started before the Viking Age, in reality barely took place until after the Viking Age, when donations of land to monasteries
led to influences from Continental Europe and a transition from a predominantly animal husbandry to grain cultivation, which entailed extensive land clearing, possibly also connected with the liberation of the thralls, that led to the creation of many new settlements with names ending in -torp, -rup, and -röd.
Scania was first mentioned in written texts in the 8th century, stating it was part of Denmark. The province was a part of Denmark under Danish king Harald Bluetooth
. The Scanian law
, the oldest of the Medieval Scandinavian laws, came into force in the beginning of the 13th century. In the middle ages Scania was known throughout Nothern Europe for its herring
and the market
at which it was sold.
Scania's geopolitical
position, situated on the Scandinavian mainland
but politically part of the Danish kingdom
, made it for many centuries the focal point of the struggle for hegemony
in the Baltic region
between Denmark and Sweden, the so called dominium maris baltici
. The two Nordic countries
were in conflict with each other for about five hundred years. By possessing both sides of the Øresund Strait
, as well as The Belts
, Denmark had effective control over the entrance to the Baltic Sea
and was able to monopolize trade
through the sounds. From the 15th century, Denmark started to collect the Sound Dues
, a transitory due from all foreign ships passing through the strait, whether en route to or from Denmark or not. The Sound Dues constituted the major source of income for the Danish crown, up until the 19th century and was resented by the Swedish Crown.
in 1658, Scania together with all Danish lands east of Oresund became a possession of the Swedish Crown
. This treaty followed a war
started by Frederick III of Denmark
, with the aim to recover territories lost in 1645, but with quite another result.
Soon after the signing of the Instrument
of Cession
king Charles X Gustav of Sweden
landed in Helsingborg
on the 5th of March 1658 (O.S.
) to take possession of the newly acquired provinces. The king was received by a delegation led by the bishop
of the Diocese of Lund
, Peder Winstrup
. The Copenhagen
-born bishop quickly shifted his allegiance
to the new ruler and later became ennobled
. He stayed in office until his death in 1679.
After the Roskilde treaty war with Denmark soon broke out again, this time started by Charles X Gustav of Sweden
. This resulted in a Swedish defeat, and as a result of the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660) Bornholm
was returned to Denmark and the present border between the countries was established. At that time Charles Gustav was already dead.
Scania, together with the other so-called Scanian provinces
, was placed under a Governor-General taking up residence in the city of Malmö. The first Governor-General was Gustaf Otto Stenbock
. This type of government was used in territories which were not fully integrated and were regarded as being more exposed to enemy attacks. The Governor-General held the highest military command in his area and had four county governors answering to him. In 1669 the general governorate was dismantled, but after the outbreak of the Scanian War
in 1676 it was reinstituted.
In 1666 the University of Lund or Regia Academia Carolina, after a proposal from Bishop
Peder Winstrup, was established as part of a programme of measures to further integrate the newly acquired provinces. However, there had long been plans to establish a university in Götaland
and with the new borders Lund and Scania were chosen. The university was closed during the Scanian War, but reopened in 1682.
The 1676–1679 war between Denmark and Sweden over Scania was devastating for the people of Scania. It effectively ended in a draw, after much destruction of property and suffering for the civilian population. Scania, with the exception of Malmö, temporarily returned to Danish administration. The turning point came with the Swedish victories in the Battle of Lund
in December 1676 and the Battle of Landskrona
in July 1677. In the Treaty of Lund (1679) the provinces were returned to Swedish sovereignty.
Section 9 of the Roskilde peace treaty had initially ensured autonomy in Scania and in an additional agreement, signed at the Malmö Recess in 1662, Sweden guaranteed that the old laws and privileges of Scania would continue to apply in the region. The Malmö Recess agreement further ensured that Scanian noblemen, priests and peasants would be allowed to send representatives to the Swedish parliament
.
However, in 1680 Sweden’s first era of absolute monarchy
was ushered in as the Swedish king Charles XI managed to convince the Diet
, (the Riksdag of the Estates
, an early form of Swedish Parliament) to declare the king "a Christian ruler with absolute power to rule his kingdom at his discretion". In 1682, the Diet downgraded the Council of State to a King's Council and gave the king unlimited powers to legislate without the need for confirmation from the Diet. A decision not to honour the agreement of the Malmö Recess soon followed and a tougher Swedification program was implemented in Scania, aiming to create uniformity within the Swedish kingdom. Scania was allowed to retain its old laws and customs until 1683, at which point the Swedish administration persuaded the Scanian aristocracy to waive the Scanian laws and privileges in favour of the new Swedish law and church ordinance
, as a condition for allowing Scanians to have representation in the Swedish parliament.
An entire staff of Swedish politicians, artists, poets and scholars were engaged in creating an image of the king as an instrument of God and a personification of the apocalyptic "Lion of the North", a form of symbolic imagery first introduced for Gustav II Adolf. The propaganda was not only aimed at convincing the Swedish population of the king's divinely ordained power, but was also part of a campaign to present Sweden to the world as an imperial power of considerable wealth and military glory. Many works of art from the era show Charles XI as a victorious warrior in Scania and on the central panel of Jacques Foucquet
’s monumental ceiling painting in the Stockholm Royal Palace, Charles XI is depicted with "the goddess of Scania" at his feet.
Halland and Blekinge were successively removed from the Skåneland dominion and became fully integrated into the Swedish Kingdom
, while the counties of Scania were joined into one county. By 1693, only Scania County was left a dominion
, with a special, not fully integrated, status. It retained its autonomy with a parliament known as the Lantdag.
The latest battle between Denmark and Sweden concerning the control of Scania was the Battle of Helsingborg (1710)
during the Great Northern War
. In March that year the last Danish troops left the province, and have never since returned as belligerent
s.
Scania's status was changed on May 9, 1719, when it was divided into two counties, Malmöhus County
and Kristianstad County
, and became fully integrated, with two county governors and an administrative pattern identical to the other Swedish counties. However, the hostilities between Denmark and Sweden during the Napoleonic Wars
caused Sweden to reintroduce the office of the Governor-General. Between 1801 and 1809, Johan Christopher Toll
was appointed Governor-General of Scania, with the county governors of Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County answering to him.
In the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645), Sweden's representatives stipulated toll freedom in Oresund for the country, and after this point, Sweden was exempted from paying the Danish Sound Toll. However, this arrangement came to an end in 1720, when the Treaty of Frederiksborg
officially ended Sweden's toll-free status. Denmark continued to collect Sound Toll until 1857.
King Charles XII
took up residence in the city of Lund
for two years after his return to Sweden from the Ottoman Empire
in 1716.
A land reform
, the so called "Enskifte" was implemented at the turn of century 1700/1800. At that time the population of the province had just passed 250,000 inhabitants.
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, the future king Charles XIV John
, landed in Helsingborg on the 20 of October 1810 on his way from Paris
to Stockholm
. In 1811 revolts broke out in Scania due to extra conscriptions of farmers.
The first horse-drawn railway (although with wooden rails) on Swedish soil was opened in 1798 at Höganäs
, connecting the coal mine with the harbour. In 1856 one of the first public railways in the country opened between Malmö and Lund.
In 1863 the population of Scania had reached 500,000 inhabitants.
In the 19th century Scania became the cradle of the Swedish Social Democratic Party
when August Palm
held his speech "Hvad vilja socialisterna?" ("What do the Socialists want?") in Malmö in 1881, where he also started the newspaper Folkviljan.
The first public flight school in Sweden was set up in 1915, at Ljungbyhed
. Between 1926 and 1996 it was the flight school of the Swedish Air Force
. Today commercial flight training is performed at Ljungbyhed airport, one of the world's oldest active airports. In 1924 the world's shortest international air route was opened from Malmö Bulltofta Airport
to Copenhagen
, Denmark
, using Junkers F.13
.
The first motorway in Sweden was inaugurated in 1953 connecting Malmö and Lund (today part of European route E22
).
In the middle of the 1970s the population of the province passed the one-million mark.
A new administrative pattern was set up 1997 when Kristianstad County
and Malmöhus County
were amalgamated, forming Skåne County
with 33 municipalities
.
In July 2000 the Øresund Bridge was inaugurated, creating a fixed rail and road link between Sweden and Denmark.
Scania
Scania is the southernmost of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden, constituting a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, and some adjacent islands. The modern administrative subdivision Skåne County is almost, but not totally, congruent with the...
has, for many centuries, been marked by the struggle between the two Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
s of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
.
Viking Age history
Thrall
Thrall was the term for a serf or unfree servant in Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age.Thralls were the lowest in the social order and usually provided unskilled labor during the Viking era.-Etymology:...
s, the former all being free and equal having their say at the thing
Thing (assembly)
A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
s in the affairs of the society. Archeological findings on Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
, the Danish islands and on the Scanian plains have modified this picture. It has now become clear, that the distribution of wealth, at least from the early Migration Period
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
, was very uneven. The plains were to a large extent divided up between large farms which were far bigger than smallholding
Smallholding
A smallholding is a farm of small size.In third world countries, smallholdings are usually farms supporting a single family with a mixture of cash crops and subsistence farming. As a country becomes more affluent and farming practices become more efficient, smallholdings may persist as a legacy of...
s, and were often grouped in villages. Subsequently, only a small faction of the population can be presumed to have enjoyed full civic rights. It seems now more likely that this society ought to be perceived as a system of tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
s, each led by magnates or chieftains, in Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
often called gode, whose authority depended on the size and wealth of the tribe. These tribes would have had their own lid, their own troop of warriors, under the command of the magnates, as was the case long after the Viking Age.
It now seems likely, that a period of domestic colonisation within Scania, that was earlier believed to have started before the Viking Age, in reality barely took place until after the Viking Age, when donations of land to monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
led to influences from Continental Europe and a transition from a predominantly animal husbandry to grain cultivation, which entailed extensive land clearing, possibly also connected with the liberation of the thralls, that led to the creation of many new settlements with names ending in -torp, -rup, and -röd.
Harald I of Denmark
Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. He died in 985 or 986 having ruled as King of Denmark from around 958 and King of Norway for a few years probably around 970...
. The Scanian law
Scanian Law
Scanian law is the oldest Danish provincial law and one of the first Nordic provincial laws to be written down. It was used in the geographic region of Danish Skåneland, which at the time included Scania, Halland, Blekinge and the island of Bornholm. It was also used for a short period on the...
, the oldest of the Medieval Scandinavian laws, came into force in the beginning of the 13th century. In the middle ages Scania was known throughout Nothern Europe for its herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
and the market
Scania Market
Scania Market was a major fish market for herring which took place annually in Scania during the Middle Ages. From around 1200, it became one of the most important events for trade around the Baltic Sea and made Scania into a major distribution center for West-European goods bound for eastern...
at which it was sold.
Scania's geopolitical
Geopolitics
Geopolitics, from Greek Γη and Πολιτική in broad terms, is a theory that describes the relation between politics and territory whether on local or international scale....
position, situated on the Scandinavian mainland
Mainland
Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...
but politically part of the Danish kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, made it for many centuries the focal point of the struggle for hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
in the Baltic region
Baltic region
The terms Baltic region, Baltic Rim countries, and Baltic Rim refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea.- Etymology :...
between Denmark and Sweden, the so called dominium maris baltici
Dominium maris baltici
The establishment of a was one of the primary political aims of the Danish and Swedish kingdoms in the late medieval and Early Modern eras...
. The two Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
were in conflict with each other for about five hundred years. By possessing both sides of the Øresund Strait
Oresund
The Sound , is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is just at the narrowest point between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden...
, as well as The Belts
The Belts
The Belts are two straits in the Danish archipelago, Little Belt and Great Belt.See also the march across the Belts.See also danish straits....
, Denmark had effective control over the entrance to the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
and was able to monopolize trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
through the sounds. From the 15th century, Denmark started to collect the Sound Dues
Sound Dues
The Sound Dues were a toll on the use of the Sound which constituted up to two thirds of Denmark's state income in the 16th and 17th centuries...
, a transitory due from all foreign ships passing through the strait, whether en route to or from Denmark or not. The Sound Dues constituted the major source of income for the Danish crown, up until the 19th century and was resented by the Swedish Crown.
1658–1680
Following the Treaty of RoskildeTreaty of Roskilde
The Treaty of Roskilde was concluded on 26 February or 8 March 1658 during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Charles X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde...
in 1658, Scania together with all Danish lands east of Oresund became a possession of the Swedish Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
. This treaty followed a war
Dano-Swedish War (1657-1658)
The Dano-Swedish War of 1657–58 was a war between Sweden and Denmark. In 1657 Charles X of Sweden and his Swedish army was bogged down in Poland. Frederick III saw this as an opportunity to recover the territories lost in 1645 and attacked Sweden...
started by Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III of Denmark
Frederick III was king of Denmark and Norway from 1648 until his death. He instituted absolute monarchy in Denmark and Norway in 1660, confirmed by law in 1665 as the first in western historiography. He was born the second-eldest son of Christian IV of Denmark and Anne Catherine of Brandenburg...
, with the aim to recover territories lost in 1645, but with quite another result.
Soon after the signing of the Instrument
Legal instrument
Legal instrument is a legal term of art that is used for any formally executed written document that can be formally attributed to its author, records and formally expresses a legally enforceable act, process, or contractual duty, obligation, or right, and therefore evidences that act, process, or...
of Cession
Cession
The act of Cession, or to cede, is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty...
king Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav also Carl Gustav, was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who...
landed in Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
on the 5th of March 1658 (O.S.
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
) to take possession of the newly acquired provinces. The king was received by a delegation led by the bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Diocese of Lund
Diocese of Lund
-External links:* from Nordisk Familjebok, in Swedish...
, Peder Winstrup
Peder Winstrup
Peder Winstrup was Bishop of Lund in Scania during a period spanning both Danish and Swedish sovereignty of the region....
. The Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
-born bishop quickly shifted his allegiance
Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign.-Etymology:From Middle English ligeaunce . The al- prefix was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an "allegation"...
to the new ruler and later became ennobled
Swedish nobility
The Swedish nobility were historically a legally and/or socially privileged class in Sweden, part of the so-called frälse . Today, the nobility is still very much a part of Swedish society but they do not maintain many of their former privileges...
. He stayed in office until his death in 1679.
After the Roskilde treaty war with Denmark soon broke out again, this time started by Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav of Sweden
Charles X Gustav also Carl Gustav, was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. After his father's death he also succeeded him as Pfalzgraf. He was married to Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, who...
. This resulted in a Swedish defeat, and as a result of the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660) Bornholm
Bornholm
Bornholm is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea located to the east of the rest of Denmark, the south of Sweden, and the north of Poland. The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts like glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, and dairy farming. Tourism is...
was returned to Denmark and the present border between the countries was established. At that time Charles Gustav was already dead.
Scania, together with the other so-called Scanian provinces
Skåneland
Skåneland or Skånelandene are terms used in historical contexts in Scandinavia to describe the area on the southern and south-western part of the Scandinavian peninsula, which under the Treaty of Roskilde was transferred from Denmark to Sweden. It corresponds to the provinces of Blekinge,...
, was placed under a Governor-General taking up residence in the city of Malmö. The first Governor-General was Gustaf Otto Stenbock
Gustaf Otto Stenbock
Count Gustaf Otto Stenbock was a Swedish soldier and politician.He was son of Friherre Gustav Eriksson Stenbock and Countess Beata Margareta Brahe , born in Torpa, Länghem parish, Tranemo Municipality, Västergötland, Sweden.He was appointed head of Kronobergs regemente in 1637, Major General in...
. This type of government was used in territories which were not fully integrated and were regarded as being more exposed to enemy attacks. The Governor-General held the highest military command in his area and had four county governors answering to him. In 1669 the general governorate was dismantled, but after the outbreak of the Scanian War
Scanian War
The Scanian War was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark-Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish provinces along the border with Sweden and in Northern Germany...
in 1676 it was reinstituted.
In 1666 the University of Lund or Regia Academia Carolina, after a proposal from Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Peder Winstrup, was established as part of a programme of measures to further integrate the newly acquired provinces. However, there had long been plans to establish a university in Götaland
Götaland
Götaland , Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gautland or Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises provinces...
and with the new borders Lund and Scania were chosen. The university was closed during the Scanian War, but reopened in 1682.
The 1676–1679 war between Denmark and Sweden over Scania was devastating for the people of Scania. It effectively ended in a draw, after much destruction of property and suffering for the civilian population. Scania, with the exception of Malmö, temporarily returned to Danish administration. The turning point came with the Swedish victories in the Battle of Lund
Battle of Lund
The Battle of Lund was fought on December 4, 1676 in an area north of the city of Lund in Scania in southern Sweden, between the invading Danish army and the army of Charles XI of Sweden. It was part of the Scanian War...
in December 1676 and the Battle of Landskrona
Battle of Landskrona
The Battle of Landskrona was fought on the Ylleshed moore, outside the town of Landskrona, in southern Sweden onJuly 14, 1677 .-Prelude:...
in July 1677. In the Treaty of Lund (1679) the provinces were returned to Swedish sovereignty.
1680–1690
Riksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
.
However, in 1680 Sweden’s first era of absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
was ushered in as the Swedish king Charles XI managed to convince the Diet
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
, (the Riksdag of the Estates
Riksdag of the Estates
The Riksdag of the Estates , was the name used for the Estates of the Swedish realm when they were assembled. Until its dissolution in 1866, the institution was the highest authority in Sweden next to the King...
, an early form of Swedish Parliament) to declare the king "a Christian ruler with absolute power to rule his kingdom at his discretion". In 1682, the Diet downgraded the Council of State to a King's Council and gave the king unlimited powers to legislate without the need for confirmation from the Diet. A decision not to honour the agreement of the Malmö Recess soon followed and a tougher Swedification program was implemented in Scania, aiming to create uniformity within the Swedish kingdom. Scania was allowed to retain its old laws and customs until 1683, at which point the Swedish administration persuaded the Scanian aristocracy to waive the Scanian laws and privileges in favour of the new Swedish law and church ordinance
Church Order (Lutheran)
The Church Order or Church Ordinance means the general ecclesiastical constitution of a State.The early Evangelical Church attached less importance to ecclesiastical ritual than the pre-Reformation Church had done...
, as a condition for allowing Scanians to have representation in the Swedish parliament.
An entire staff of Swedish politicians, artists, poets and scholars were engaged in creating an image of the king as an instrument of God and a personification of the apocalyptic "Lion of the North", a form of symbolic imagery first introduced for Gustav II Adolf. The propaganda was not only aimed at convincing the Swedish population of the king's divinely ordained power, but was also part of a campaign to present Sweden to the world as an imperial power of considerable wealth and military glory. Many works of art from the era show Charles XI as a victorious warrior in Scania and on the central panel of Jacques Foucquet
Jacques Foucquet
Jacques Foucquet was a French artist primarily active in Sweden. Before becoming active as a painter in Stockholm, Sweden, Jacques Foucquet was employed as an officer and engineer in the court of Louis XIV. He was educated at Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris, and heavily...
’s monumental ceiling painting in the Stockholm Royal Palace, Charles XI is depicted with "the goddess of Scania" at his feet.
After 1690
Sweden proper
Sweden proper, , is a term used to distinguish those territories that were fully integrated into the Kingdom of Sweden, as opposed to the dominions and possessions of, or states in union with, Sweden....
, while the counties of Scania were joined into one county. By 1693, only Scania County was left a dominion
Dominions of Sweden
The Dominions of Sweden or Svenska besittningar were territories that historically came under control of the Swedish Crown, but never became fully integrated with Sweden. This generally meant that they were ruled by Governors-General under the Swedish monarch, but within certain limits retained...
, with a special, not fully integrated, status. It retained its autonomy with a parliament known as the Lantdag.
The latest battle between Denmark and Sweden concerning the control of Scania was the Battle of Helsingborg (1710)
Battle of Helsingborg (1710)
The Battle of Helsingborg was Denmark's failed and final attempt to regain the Scanian lands, lost to Sweden in 1658.On the Ringstorp heights northwest of Helsingborg, 14,000 Danish invaders under Jørgen Rantzau were decisively defeated by an equally large Swedish army under Magnus...
during the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
. In March that year the last Danish troops left the province, and have never since returned as belligerent
Belligerent
A belligerent is an individual, group, country or other entity which acts in a hostile manner, such as engaging in combat. Belligerent comes from Latin, literally meaning "to wage war"...
s.
Scania's status was changed on May 9, 1719, when it was divided into two counties, Malmöhus County
Malmöhus County
Malmöhus County was a county of Sweden until 1997 when it was merged with Kristianstad County to form Skåne County.It had been named after Malmöhus, the castle in Malmö, which also was where the Governor originally resided....
and Kristianstad County
Kristianstad County
Kristianstad County was a county of Sweden from 1719 to 1 January 1997 when it was merged with Malmöhus County to form Skåne County.The seat of residence for the Governor was in Kristianstad.- List of Governors :...
, and became fully integrated, with two county governors and an administrative pattern identical to the other Swedish counties. However, the hostilities between Denmark and Sweden during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
caused Sweden to reintroduce the office of the Governor-General. Between 1801 and 1809, Johan Christopher Toll
Johan Christopher Toll
Count Johan Christopher Toll , Swedish statesman and soldier, was born at Mölleröd in Scania Count Johan Christopher Toll (1 February 1743 – 21 May 1817), Swedish statesman and soldier, was born at Mölleröd in Scania Count Johan Christopher Toll (1 February 1743 – 21 May 1817), Swedish...
was appointed Governor-General of Scania, with the county governors of Kristianstad County and Malmöhus County answering to him.
In the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645), Sweden's representatives stipulated toll freedom in Oresund for the country, and after this point, Sweden was exempted from paying the Danish Sound Toll. However, this arrangement came to an end in 1720, when the Treaty of Frederiksborg
Treaty of Frederiksborg
The Treaty of Frederiksborg refers to the treaty signed at Frederiksborg Palace on 3 July 1720 that ended the Great Northern War between Sweden and Denmark-Norway. Sweden paid 600,000 Riksdaler in damages, broke the alliance with Holstein and forfeited its right to duty free passage of Öresund...
officially ended Sweden's toll-free status. Denmark continued to collect Sound Toll until 1857.
King Charles XII
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
took up residence in the city of Lund
Lund
-Main sights:During the 12th and 13th centuries, when the town was the seat of the archbishop, many churches and monasteries were built. At its peak, Lund had 27 churches, but most of them were demolished as result of the Reformation in 1536. Several medieval buildings remain, including Lund...
for two years after his return to Sweden from the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1716.
A land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
, the so called "Enskifte" was implemented at the turn of century 1700/1800. At that time the population of the province had just passed 250,000 inhabitants.
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, the future king Charles XIV John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
, landed in Helsingborg on the 20 of October 1810 on his way from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. In 1811 revolts broke out in Scania due to extra conscriptions of farmers.
The first horse-drawn railway (although with wooden rails) on Swedish soil was opened in 1798 at Höganäs
Höganäs
Höganäs is a locality and the seat of Höganäs Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 13,550 inhabitants in 2005.Höganäs is nationally known for its ceramics industry, Höganäs Keramik. Höganäs Keramik is part of Iittala Group....
, connecting the coal mine with the harbour. In 1856 one of the first public railways in the country opened between Malmö and Lund.
In 1863 the population of Scania had reached 500,000 inhabitants.
In the 19th century Scania became the cradle of the Swedish Social Democratic Party
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
when August Palm
August Palm
August Teodor Palm was a Swedish socialist activist and a key person in introducing the social democratic labour movement in Sweden, leading it in a reformist direction.-Early activism:...
held his speech "Hvad vilja socialisterna?" ("What do the Socialists want?") in Malmö in 1881, where he also started the newspaper Folkviljan.
The first public flight school in Sweden was set up in 1915, at Ljungbyhed
F 5 Ljungbyhed
F 5 Ljungbyhed, Kungliga Krigsflygskolan, Royal Air Force Flight Academy, or simply "F 5", is a former Swedish Air Force training wing with the main base located in Ljungbyhed in southern Sweden.- History of the airbase :...
. Between 1926 and 1996 it was the flight school of the Swedish Air Force
Swedish Air Force
The Swedish Air Force is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces.-History:The Swedish Air Force was created on July 1, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalating international tension during the 1930s the Air Force was reorganized and expanded...
. Today commercial flight training is performed at Ljungbyhed airport, one of the world's oldest active airports. In 1924 the world's shortest international air route was opened from Malmö Bulltofta Airport
Bulltofta Airport
Bulltofta Airport was, from 1923 to 1972, the main airport serving the city of Malmö, Sweden, until it was replaced by Sturup Airport. The former airport area, in the district of Kirseberg, has been converted into, in part, a major park, in part a commercial area.The route Malmö-Copenhagen, started...
to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, using Junkers F.13
Junkers F.13
The Junkers F.13 was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, developed in Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. Over 300 were sold...
.
The first motorway in Sweden was inaugurated in 1953 connecting Malmö and Lund (today part of European route E22
European route E22
The European route E 22 is one of the longest European routes. It has a length of about . Many of the E-roads have been extended into Asia since the year 2000; the E 22 was extended on 24 June 2002.-United Kingdom:...
).
In the middle of the 1970s the population of the province passed the one-million mark.
A new administrative pattern was set up 1997 when Kristianstad County
Kristianstad County
Kristianstad County was a county of Sweden from 1719 to 1 January 1997 when it was merged with Malmöhus County to form Skåne County.The seat of residence for the Governor was in Kristianstad.- List of Governors :...
and Malmöhus County
Malmöhus County
Malmöhus County was a county of Sweden until 1997 when it was merged with Kristianstad County to form Skåne County.It had been named after Malmöhus, the castle in Malmö, which also was where the Governor originally resided....
were amalgamated, forming Skåne County
Skåne County
Skåne County is the southernmost administrative county or län, of Sweden, basically corresponding to the historical province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronoberg and Blekinge. The seat of residence for the Skåne Governor is the town of Malmö...
with 33 municipalities
Municipalities of Sweden
The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...
.
In July 2000 the Øresund Bridge was inaugurated, creating a fixed rail and road link between Sweden and Denmark.